5513 Completed Restoration

[Trog]

Over the last few months, I've been focused on getting my s/n:1.8mil, 5513 Sub sorted.

Case work was completed by Rolliworks, and servicing was completed locally.

The final repair was the replacement of the oscillating weight. In the case of my 5513, at some time in its life, someone thought it appropriate to solder the axle onto the weight. Now I know replacement parts are getting harder to find, and when you do source the part, the price can be shocking.

But really, soldering the axle?????

Fast forward and I managed to source an OEM NOS oscillating weight on ebay.

Brought the part to 'The German Watchmaker' in Vancouver BC (Side note: Norbert is the most thorough and conscientious watchmaker in town), who proceeded to install the part, and took the effort to remove the corrosion staining under the bezel.

So that's it. All that's left is to find a period correct bracelet and I'm off to the races.

[joli160]

That is beautiful, lovely edges

[mbc]

Your watch looks fantastic!

[Rebel]

Exquisite.

[Bladeshot]

Looks great! I love putting things back as they should be.

[jlovda]

Can you tell me what Rolliworks did to the case? Did they laser weld it to remove overpolishing?

[TurboTim14]

Beautiful watch. Nice work!

[Trog]

Originally Posted by jlovda

Can you tell me what Rolliworks did to the case? Did they laser weld it to remove overpolishing?

Rolliworks will ask you what level of restoration you're looking for on a range of 1 to 10. I went for a 10/10 restoration which required laser welding to add material.. They did a good job on the case, but they neglected to remove the corrosion staining under the bezel. That was very disappointing as my local watchmaker cleaned it up in 30-minutes.

[Trog]

A few photo's under natural light to highlight Rolliworks workmanship:

[Trog]

A few more pics to complete the set:

[Filipão]

Outstanding.

[ROGERB]

Looks great Jack! Doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling since my 89 16610 and my son’s seamaster professoinal are currently in for full service where you started locally servicing. R


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[schoolboy]

That’s awesome, great looking watch.

[Trog]

Originally Posted by ROGERB

Looks great Jack! Doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling since my 89 16610 and my son’s seamaster professoinal are currently in for full service where you started locally servicing. R


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I wouldn't worry.... they do good work. But from what I've seen, Norbert at TGW is certainly more fastidious.

[BisonHead]

Thats looking really good, well done.

[jlovda]

Well, based on your pictures, I'm calling RolliWorks on Monday to get a quote and shipping instructions to correct an overpolishing situation I have with my 5513. Thanks for posting.

[Car32]

Great work! But may I ask, are the chamfers supposed to be that wide on a 5513?

If so I guess Rolex made their chamfers thinner in later generations? I don't think the 5 digit chamfers are that thick?

[Trog]

Originally Posted by Car32

Great work! But may I ask, are the chamfers supposed to be that wide on a 5513?

If so I guess Rolex made their chamfers thinner in later generations? I don't think the 5 digit chamfers are that thick?

Discussed here at length:

http://www.ehostfast.com/showthread.php?t=653476&page=2

Good reference photo's here:

http://www.metersfirst.com/watches/1...rst-unpolished

[mountainjogger]

Awesome!

[Cduff]

Beautiful 5513! The case work is incredible...looks fantastic!

Thanks for sharing!

[TimeLord2]

I am curious if any of you who collect watches think the case restoration by laser welding and adding material would affect the value? There was another post on TRF a few weeks ago with a technique for determining if the watch has been laser welded and it is actually quite easy to do and you get the same result every time. All of that said, I think it looks fantastic and could care less if you could actually determine if work was done. Just look at that case! Nice to have patina on the hands and dial but the ability to take a watch that has been over-polished and bring it back to factory specifications is quite nice. I find it interesting when people compare getting laser welding on a watch to women getting plastic surgery (men getting plastic surgery never came up.). That would be like comparing apples to oranges in my opinion. A human will continue to age, a piece of steel will not, and apparently with laser welding can look new, effectively forever. I don't cherish the scrapes and scratches on my watch I cherish the watch. And that my friend is a great looking watch.

[JParm]

Beautiful!

[Trog]

Originally Posted by TimeLord2

I am curious if any of you who collect watches think the case restoration by laser welding and adding material would affect the value? There was another post on TRF a few weeks ago with a technique for determining if the watch has been laser welded and it is actually quite easy to do and you get the same result every time. All of that said, I think it looks fantastic and could care less if you could actually determine if work was done. Just look at that case! Nice to have patina on the hands and dial but the ability to take a watch that has been over-polished and bring it back to factory specifications is quite nice. I find it interesting when people compare getting laser welding on a watch to women getting plastic surgery (men getting plastic surgery never came up.). That would be like comparing apples to oranges in my opinion. A human will continue to age, a piece of steel will not, and apparently with laser welding can look new, effectively forever. I don't cherish the scrapes and scratches on my watch I cherish the watch. And that my friend is a great looking watch.

You make good points, and although I understand the arguments being made on both sides of the issue, I look at it like this:

I have been restoring cars and motorcycles for years in an attempt to bring them back to their original condition. Only when OEM parts were unavailable, or in too poor a condition to be used, did I source parts from restoration part suppliers.

I see a vintage watch the same way. If I can bring a watch back to its original glory, then why not?

I suspect the biggest risk with laser-welding is unscrupulous vendors who may be tempted to declare the item as NOS.

[ROGERB]

So laser welding is like Bondo for watchesLOL (or welding in a piece of fender)

Ok

I concur with the non declared work issue, that would make it real tough. I must admit when I see NOS and the watch doesn't have a mark anywhere I am very skeptical. But more people seem to approach this passion from the "one
e day flip it so what's it worth" angle as apposed to keep it looking nice as long as you can.
In this case I think the end result is great and like the fact the hands and bezel stayed in their original condition


R

[Onequik135i]

Stunning & as an added bonus you have a perfectly aligned crown.

[ROGERB]

Originally Posted by Onequik135i

Stunning & as an added bonus you have a perfectly aligned crown.

might also be a little creative tightening!

[Trog]

Originally Posted by ROGERB

might also be a little creative tightening!

Nope....it aligns perfectly!

[ROGERB]

Originally Posted by Trog

Nope....it aligns perfectly!

The German is
Fastidious
R

[Trog]

Originally Posted by ROGERB

The German is
Fastidious
R

LOL...he is indeed!

[Toronto Soup King]

Originally Posted by TimeLord2

I am curious if any of you who collect watches think the case restoration by laser welding and adding material would affect the value?

I had my beater 5513 (from Jacek years ago, cheap, service dial/insert/hands) fully redone by LAWW. Now it looks like a new watch. I wouldn't have done it had I owned a matte-dial clean full set or something, but a simple old Sub with service parts? Sure, no problem. Looks great now and I simply don't care about resale price on that watch, I buy my watches to wear anyway.